One of the greatest joys as hunter has been taking my kids hunting along with me.

But as much as I love to hunt, I have learned that it is OK if my children don’t share in my passion.

When my son turned 12, he took hunter’s safety and hunted that fall along with my husband and me. That whole season became all about getting him a deer.

He followed us over endless mountain peaks, down countless ravines and along miles of timbered trails. He rarely complained, but his lack of enthusiasm was evident. We hoped he just needed the success of his first kill to boost his confidence.

By the end of the season, he shot a white-tail doe, and we were so proud. The next year, we did it all again. This time by the end of the fall, he bagged himself a buck. And although just a small two-point, we hung the horns up like a trophy.

By his third year of hunting, he continued to follow us down the trail, but we noticed his steps were lagging even farther behind. He was so eager to please us, but the enthusiasm just wasn’t there. In the back of my mind I was just hoping he needed to be more successful to catch the hunting bug. After all, hunting is my very favorite hobby.

Before the next season, I had the conversation with him that I knew I needed to. I asked him flat out if liked to hunt, not if he just went because we wanted him to. I asked if he would choose to go hunting on a day he could choose to do a number of other things. I gave him the choice whether to buy a tag that next year. His answer was no. But in those big brown eyes I could see how he hated to disappoint me.

I love my son, and I love that he can be honest with my husband and me. He’s not a hunter, and that’s OK. Even though he doesn’t share my love for hunting, he does share my love for writing, and I’m proud of the many times I find him up in his room writing something “just for fun,” as he says. He’s also a trivia buff and my husband and I take him out to trivia night at a local restaurant almost every week. It’s become our special time together.

Through all this, I’ve learned a great lesson. I learned that every kid is different and that is what makes families so special.